Posts

The first two episodes of FX’s American Horror Story: Apocalypse lacked even a hint of the highly-touted crossover spectacle the season was promised to feature. Well, that moment finally comes in the last two minutes of Episode Three, after Michael Landon (Cody Fern) kills off the entire new cast (except for Kathy Bates’ Miriam, because- surprise!- she’s a robot now), and the witches from Season Three’s Coven waltz into view. By Episode Four, we’re knee-deep in crossover territory, right down to an unexpected return to American Horror Story: Hotel‘s Hotel Cortez. Fortunately, all of the returning faces of yesteryear- including Emma Roberts and Gabourey Sidibe- don’t slow down the progression of the story and, despite the occasional flashback, actually end up keeping things moving forward. And, while there’s no shortage of ridiculousness to go around, this manages to be one of the most engaging seasons of American Horror Story in years.read more

Season Nine of FX’s American Horror Story is upon us, and the apocalypse has never looked so dreary! Trading in cavernous asylums, gothic mansions, and backwoods freak shows for a claustrophobic candle-lit labyrinth, the series heads in a different direction while still promising a glimpse or two at the past. The season opens with the always-incredible Billy Eichner running through the streets of L.A. as if he’s hosting a segment of Billy on the Street. It turns out that mankind has finally triggered the end times, and everyone must fend for themselves. That is, everyone but the ultra-rich and those with impeccable DNA. In a scene that looks like it would feel right at home in an episode of Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories, a mysterious group arrives at a family’s doorstep and demands to take one of their boys to save him from the nuclear fallout. So series newcomer Kyle Allen’s character, Timothy Campbell, is whisked away to a mysterious compound while his family probably contemplates if they even need to respond to his UCLA acceptance letter that just came in the mail. The first episode sets up the premise of the season quickly, and before we know it we’re right in the middle of all the action- which takes place in a Bauhaus-inspired shelter run by a mysterious group called The Cooperative. What follows is what can best be described as an “acquired taste,” as viewers are- for better or for worse- quickly drawn into the typical trappings of the franchise.read more